[Cherie]

The Royle Family is returning for a one-off special to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary.

Written, created by and starring Caroline Aherne, who died aged 52 in 2016, and Craig Cash, 62, the Royle Family became one of the defining sitcoms of the 1990s, following a Manchester-based family sat on their sofa watching television.

To mark a quarter of a century since the comedy launched on BBC, Gold will be airing an updated version of the 2010 documentary, The Royle Family: Down The Back Of The Sofa in September, featuring cast members Ralf Little, 42, Ricky Tomlinson, 83, Sue Johnston, 79, and Cash.

‘A quarter of a century! The Royle Family has without doubt left a permanent mark in television history and we’re delighted to have commissioned this documentary for the 25th anniversary,’ enthused Gold commissioning editor Jason Dawson.

‘Working alongside Craig and the brilliant team at Phil McIntyre is such a pleasure, and we hope viewers will enjoy reliving this celebration of one of the nation’s most beloved shows.’

The Royle Family ran for three glorious series from 1998 to 2000, later returning for several specials from 2006 to 2012.

[LeatherTrumpet]

Brilliant!

[Cherie]

I assume this will air Christmas day

[arista]

Add a T

To your nice title to make The Royal Family ........................
fine lady

[MTVN]

Thought this meant an episode at first which would be very wrong with no Denise

[Alf]

It surely can't work without Caroline.

[Alf]

It would be like having Blackadder without Rowan. Or Fawlty Towers without John Cleese

[Swan]

Probably an unpopular opinion but after The Queen of Sheba Dave and Denise' characters were way too hammed up. Im not sure why Craig and Caroline felt the need to dumb down their characters so much.

Don't get me wrong, i love the show, but look at how different they are, and plain stupid in the later Christmas specials.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by arista

Add a T

To your nice title to make The Royal Family ........................
fine lady

as you wish

[Cherie]

I would imagine they will sit around talking about Denise or something, tbh it went off the rails towards the end so not too sure about this one

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by Swan

Probably an unpopular opinion but after The Queen of Sheba Dave and Denise' characters were way too hammed up. Im not sure why Craig and Caroline felt the need to dumb down their characters so much.

Don't get me wrong, i love the show, but look at how different they are, and plain stupid in the later Christmas specials.

Yeah big time, even in series 3 that was the case tbh but they took it to way greater lengths in the Christmas specials

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by Swan

Probably an unpopular opinion but after The Queen of Sheba Dave and Denise' characters were way too hammed up. Im not sure why Craig and Caroline felt the need to dumb down their characters so much.

Don't get me wrong, i love the show, but look at how different they are, and plain stupid in the later Christmas specials.

Yes her total disregard for her role as a mother became uncomfortable

[MTVN]

Yeah that's it for me, they just made her an unlikeable character whereas before she was always a bit self-involved but was basically a good person who cared a lot about her family

[bitontheslide]

it never clicked with me, i just didn't find it funny. Compare it to only fools and there wasn't an episode that i wasn't laughing out loud

[Swan]

The episode where they were on a caravan holiday, Golden Egg Cup was it? The eggy bread stuff, and how just plain dumb Dave's character had become, it was really off putting. Though there were some laughs in that episode. They played on not having chip pan a bit too much. But when they got back and told Joe, and he said "you hear about these holidays from hell but never expect it to happen to you". I though that was a great line.

And yeah Denise was an awful mother in series 3 and beyond. It could have been funny if written right, but she just came across as heartless. The show became so popular early on because of it's realism to working/lower class life. Irl, that family would have had words with Denise big time at what a bad mother she was becoming.

Im really happy they gave Anthony a success story though. And how his character turned out.

[Swan]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

it never clicked with me, i just didn't find it funny. Compare it to only fools and there wasn't an episode that i wasn't laughing out loud

They even hammed up Only Fools in the last 3 or so episodes. But overall Only Fools is my favourite comedy of all time. There a few episodes i can't watch on repeat like i can with most though. From Prussia with Love isn't one i've ever liked.

To Hull and Back, The Frog's Legacy and The Jolly Boys Outing will always be my favourites. Seasons 2, 3 and 4 are overall my favourites series'.